


Seventeen

by alltimelilly



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Death, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Minor Character Death, Swearing, ok its not super minor but its only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 04:03:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12124110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltimelilly/pseuds/alltimelilly
Summary: Based on the song “Seventeen” from the musical Heathers, Peter Parker and (Y/N) being 17 years old and in their senior year, things have changed drastically since Peter first met Tony. Thanos has invaded and left his mark on the world, taking Tony Stark with him in his demise. For the last year, Peter has helped Pepper run Stark Industries to carry on the Stark legacy, and it is affecting Peter. You talk some sense into him, only to have someone point out a very specific theory about Peter Parker and the guy running around in a red and blue leotard.





	Seventeen

**Author's Note:**

> i love this. so much. this song, this plot. there is so much angst but fluff at the same time?? but alas tony is dead and it makes me sad just to think about. ITS INTENSE.

"Where are you?" You asked into the phone as you sat in the Parker household, watching May try not to worry.

"Just finishing up some things," Peter replied.

You rolled your eyes. "May was so worried, Peter! You missed all her calls, you really need to start paying more attention to that. She was so worried she called me thinking you were with me," You sighed. "We need you to come back right now."

"I can't. I'm in the middle of some really important work that Pepper needed help on and I told her-"

"I don't care," You interrupted. "You're seventeen, Peter, you're taking on a job that was made for someone far older. You are still in school, I know you're a genius but you seriously need to prioritize things. You are still a kid, I'm still a kid, you can't worry May like this!" You shouted. "You need to come home, do your homework, and get a good night's sleep."

Peter huffed. "I'll save things and leave in five minutes," He said. "I love you."

"I love you too. We'll be at your apartment," You said, and hung up.

May looked like she was going to cry. Ever since she found out about Peter being Spider-Man, she was both more and less worried about him. She trusted that he knew what he was doing, but that never stopped her from being scared. "Thank you, (Y/N)," May said. "You said all the things I was going to tell him."

"I worry about him, too," You reminded her. "He took on Tony Stark's job. I know he's been working it for a year, but he's still so young. I can't imagine having to work like he does," You told her.

May smiled and put her hand on your knee. "I'm glad he has you. How has he been at school?"

"Honestly, I haven't seen him much. During lunch, he rushes to the computer lab to work on something and in the two classes we have together it's hard to talk. And right after school he either turns into Spider-Man, or he's Tony Stark," You said. It was sad that you didn't get to see your boyfriend as much...and it's something you really need to talk to him about. You miss him.

A car pulled up in front of Peter's apartment building. "Thanks, Happy," Peter said once he got out of the car. He grabbed his briefcase, his gym bag, and his book bag for school.

"Am I getting you from school tomorrow?" Happy asked.

Peter paused for a second and looked up at the building, seeing his apartment being one of the only ones with light still. "Uh...I'll call you. I have to talk to May and (Y/N)."

Happy nodded and rolled up the window, leaving Peter standing in front of the building to face the rage of his aunt and his love alone. Peter hauled all his bags upstairs, trying to prepare for what could be said as soon as he walked in. Reaching the floor and the apartment, he moved his key around to open the door. "You're back," May smiled, standing up quickly. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me, too," You added, walking over to Peter to give your boyfriend a hug. "Give me your suit," You stuck out your hand.

Peter sighed and gave you the gym bag, and you pulled the suit out. "I knew it. I knew there was a tear when I saw it on TV the other day!" You pointed to it. "Peter, you can't go around with your skin exposed. I know this suit is supposed to protect you with all the Stark tech, but you have to make sure you fix it when it gets messed up," You warned.

"I'll put it back together tonight," May said and grabbed it out of your hand. "Now, put your briefcase and backpack down and eat some food. Lord knows you don't eat enough when you're working," May said and walked over to the kitchen to pull out leftovers.

To be honest, Peter taking over Tony's job was great. He enjoyed it, and it made him a lot of money, money that he tended to save up. But, the downside was that the job is a lot of work, especially for a seventeen-year-old.

But you let that all float to the back of your mind when you saw Peter sitting at the table across from May, smiling and enjoying just having some time with his aunt. You wandered over to the empty chair, and engaged in their conversation. May asked about school and Peter told her a ton of stories. She asked what he was doing at work today, and he was more than excited to fill both of you in on the new project he and Pepper had an idea for.

You loved hearing Peter get excited when he talked about all the things he was doing. But you could see with his dark eyes and his tired energy that he needed sleep, and some good sleep at that.

\---

"You can't keep doing this!" You yelled at Peter a few days later. This time, May was out of town doing something extra for her job and taking a break from all the stress. She begged Peter to get home at a normal time every night, and she even wanted you to stay at the apartment with him to make sure he would be home on time.

Peter sighed as he stood in front of the couch, rubbing his temples. "(Y/N), I'm just working. I got excited today and stayed a little longer. But I finally broke through what I've been working on for a week," Peter tried to reason with you, but you were having none of it.

"Peter," You covered your eyes as you fell onto the couch. "You need to be more responsible, please."

Your boyfriend groaned and sat next to you on the couch. "What do you think me taking this job has made me? Less responsible? I've took on Tony Stark's whole job and I help Pepper run one of the biggest companies in the world! If that isn't responsibility-"

"That's responsibility meant for an adult! You need to have responsibility for a seventeen-year-old! School, family, and friends!" You shouted, standing up quickly because he wouldn't  _hear_  you. "You don't need to be Tony's job. It's gotten so much more intense and stressing since you first started. Tony didn't ask you to take on his job-"

"I watched Tony Stark die, (Y/N)!" Peter yelled as he stood up off the couch. "I watched Thanos  _kill_  Tony!"

You stopped in your tracks and when you opened your mouth to speak, no words or sounds came out. All you could do was stand in front of Peter with your jaw dropped. You remember the day Tony Stark died, it hurt everyone. Peter kept to himself after Tony died for a while, he was insanely hurt. But he never once mentioned that he saw it happen, he just let on that he only knew about Tony's death.

Once Tony Stark died, Peter went into a mood of never wanting to leave his room and he barely ate. He didn't know how to handle himself for weeks, months at that, he didn't have any motivation. That wasn't until Pepper approached him, asking if he would like to work at Stark Industries, trying to carry on Tony's legacy and continue the projects that were half finished. Of course, Peter accepted and things seemed to be getting back to normal. He had a coping mechanism and he was feeling better about life in general.

"I didn't know that," You whispered and grabbed Peter's hand. "I'm sorry. But...think about it, Tony wouldn't want you to have all this stress lying on your back. He would never have wished it upon you. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's happy you were the person to take over his role...but he wouldn't want you to lose sleep and your life by it. You still have school, and friends, and May..." You trailed off, trying to bring Peter back to reality. Then, you realized something. "Wait, it was never said how Tony-"

"Thanos strangled him," Peter whispered. "My leg was stuck in something and I could see Tony confronting Thanos. He talked about how he wanted to make Tony feel small and..." Peter paused. "I couldn't do anything. I was stuck. I tried yelling for him, but I had lost my voice and no matter how loud I screamed, barely anything came out. Thanos gave him a speech and literally choked the life out of Tony. I watched him die, (Y/N)," Peter confessed. He had tears in his eyes and it was getting harder for him to talk.

You grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles. "I'm so sorry, Peter," You whispered to him.

Peter pulled his hand away and put his hands over his eyes. He was crying now and he looked like he was going to explode. "Taking on his job made me feel like I was doing  _something_. I couldn't save him, but I could help his love and his friends and continue on the company and his legacy! That's why I take on all these hours of work with school...I'm doing my part for all he did for me," Peter exploded.

"I...I think you need to tell May when she gets back. Both of us can understand with the story-"

"No! You'll never understand the way I do!" Peter shouted between sobs. "I lost both of my parents! I lost my uncle! And I finally had another male role model in my life, and now he's fucking dead, too!" Peter said in one breath and fell onto the couch, crying into the pillow and hyperventilating.

You put your hand on Peter's back. "Okay,  _fine, we're damaged. Really damaged_."

Peter nodded a little, waiting for you to continue. " _We can't choose who lives or dies_ ," You reminded him. "You don't have to become Tony Stark, you can just be Peter Parker every once in a while and continue to be a kid..." You grabbed his hand when he turned to sit up. " _We'll bake brownies, or go bowling. Don't you want a life with me?"_ You whispered to him. " _Can't we be seventeen?_ "

Peter looked at you with pleading eyes. " _That's all I want to do,_ " You continued, and Peter nodded in agreement.

Kissing your knuckles, Peter looked up at you. His eyes were red and puffy, obviously upset and unsure how to continue on. Finally, he settled on something short and sweet. "Me too."

You laughed a bit and pulled Peter off the couch so he was standing with you now. You began again. " _We'll go camping_ -"

" _Play some poker?_ " Peter jumped in with his ideas.

You nodded. " _Maybe prom night..._ "

" _Maybe dancing?_ " Peter's hopeful eyes asked.

A big smile grew across your face with a nod. " _Don't stop looking in my eyes_."

Peter giggled a bit and put his hand on your cheek. " _Your eyes_." Peter pulled you into a hug and kissed your cheek. 

" _So,_ " You whispered after a minute as Peter held you in his arms. " _What's it gonna be?_ "

Peter had tear-stained cheeks at this point. He pulled away a little, yet held his hands on your shoulders with a smile growing on his face. " _I wanna be with you_."

"Good, because  _I wanna be with you tonight,_ " You added, tears beginning to form in your eyes. And within a second, Peter quickly pressed his lips to yours but the kiss wasn't needy. It was soft and sweet, reminding the two of you of your love and how you two do this whole relationship thing.

Once you released, you hugged Peter again. " _Yeah, we're damaged-_ "

" _Badly damaged_."

" _But your loves too good to lose_..." You sighed contently, happy to finally have your boyfriend back.

Now sitting on the couch, hugging and crying together, Peter finally composed himself. " _Can we be seventeen_?"

Nodding, you laid your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes. "I love you, Peter Parker," You said quietly.

"I love you, (Y/N) (L/N)," Peter replied. You felt his phone buzz then heard his loud ringtone. "Fuck," He mumbled. Hearing Peter swear wasn't unusual. but the f-bomb was one he didn't say often. And to hear it twice in one night was something unheard of, but it showed how much emotion was overtaking him. Maybe he would finally give himself a break. "Oh, it's Pepper. She can survive without me for now," He declared, and declined the phone call.

Peter grabbed the remote and turned on your favorite Netflix show and kept it quiet enough in case you decided to fall asleep. And right as you were in a twilight, you were brought back to reality by a different ringtone playing- May's number, that was never silenced after he missed a bunch of her calls. "Hi, May," Peter answered. He was talking quietly because he wasn't sure if you were asleep or not, but you were, in fact, awake and looking at your boyfriend talk. "Yeah- wait. Pepper called you? What's wrong?" Hearing the worry in his voice only made you worry and you wished you could hear what she was saying. But Peter looked to shocked to even register that speakerphone is a thing.

"That's not possible. The only places I change into Spider-Man is the car because that's Stark tech for you, and in the apartment, and the base. I've stopped changing in the middle of alleyways and-" Peter paused. "I know you don't know how. Okay, I'll call Pepper. Get some sleep, May, I'll handle this," Peter told her. "I love you too. Goodnight." And with that, the phone call ended.

"What was that about?" You asked.

Peter set his phone down slowly and he laughed once, looking confused but a smile on his face. "Someone is claiming that I'm Spider-Man. That they saw me change, and fight, and change back," Peter said. "The person has gone viral on social media for these allegations and has talked to some news stations about why they believe this..." Peter said.

"And we didn't see it because we were arguing. Of course, that's when it happened," You groaned. "Call Pepper."

Peter nodded and typed her phone number, putting her on speaker phone this time.

\---

The next few days at school were strange. Peter was set to hold a press conference Friday at three-o'clock, and you were insanely anxious. Pepper didn't want the world to know, and frankly, neither did Peter. Their reasons were different, though. Pepper based it off of all the things that happened to Tony, with him being dead now. But Peter already had a ton of fame from helping Pepper run the company, he really didn't want more fame and he didn't want to have to deal with more things in his life.

"I always had a feeling Parker was up to something," You heard the annoying familiar voice of Flash approach from behind. "So, (Y/N), is it true?"

"Is what true?" You turned to Flash. "That you're interrupting my conversation with Ned? Yes. And you're a dick? One-hundred percent."

Flash laughed and patted your shoulder. "That was a good one. Now, how long has Peter been Spider-Man?" Flash raised his eyebrow.

"I don't know why you believe all that crap. It's some stupid conspiracy theory. There is no proof. I want to know why this person believes that Peter is Spider-Man. Where did they see him? Where are the pictures-"

"Dude, chill," Flash rolled his eyes. "Peter's too much of a nerd and a wannabe to actually be a hero," He said and walked away.

You groaned and turned back to Ned, anxiously looking at the time. "He is such a prick!" You told Ned.  _2:19 pm_.

"He's just trying to get on your nerves," Ned reminded and shut his locker. "Besides, Peter is a pretty good liar. Just like you, he'll be able to convince and remind everyone that he's not Spider-Man," Ned told you. Over the years, he had finally realized it was better to get over wanting to tell everyone and became calmer when it came to his best friend being a hero. He would rather him be safe and hidden than unsafe and revealed as just a normal kid. "Now, come on, we get to leave school early for Peter's press conference, so let's get going." To say Ned has matured since the beginning of the sophomore year was an understatement. He was always listening to Peter talk about ideas for the company and he even pitched a few every once in a while. Ned was going far places.

By 2:30, you and Ned arrived at the venue. You appeared in the back in your nice outfit, accompanied by Ned who also knew how to clean up nicely. Pepper was helping Peter tie his tie and make sure he looked just fine, and May was pacing around with nerves. Happy was watching around, making sure no one would approach who wasn't supposed to be there. "How's he doing?" You asked Happy.

"Not too good," Happy admitted. "I haven't seen him this nervous since he had to attend the press conference with Pepper to announce he was joining the company and taking over Tony's role. But this, this is worse."

You nodded and looked around Happy to see Peter breathing heavily. "Don't tell him that him speaking is going to be broadcasted all over the world and everyone at our school is going to see it."

"Wasn't planning on it," Happy nodded. With high five, you and Ned walked over to Peter and he quickly kissed your cheek and gave Ned a hug. 

"You're gonna kill it," You told Peter. "Just take deep breaths and remember, you aren't Spider-Man."

"There's no way you're cool enough to be Spider-Man," Ned laughed. Peter nodded, yet didn't say a word. He was freaking out and was afraid if he spoke he would fall apart at the seams.

A few minutes later and Peter, Pepper, and Happy were walking on Stage. Pepper gladly introduced "Mr. Parker" and reminded everyone there of a few rules and announcements she had to make. Happy stood back a little bit further, just for some extra protection.

"If I'm being honest," You started, "I'm really surprised no one has brought this up before. Think about it, out of nowhere, Peter was brought into Stark Industries. How did Tony know him? Why did they trust him-"

"(Y/N)," May cut you off, "You have a point, but you need to stop. I'm too nervous and I'm just grateful that no one has brought it up until now," May said and she was chewing gum, trying to contain her nervousness.

The crowd was loud when Pepper handed over the stage to Peter and he took a shaky breath. "Hey everyone, I'm Peter Parker. You probably know me as the guy who took over Tony Stark's job after he died, but I've seen people speculating why I was the one to take it on. You see, I had an internship for Tony Stark and helped him a lot, basically whenever he needed my help. We grew close and he determined I was smart for my age, and started to teach me a lot about his tech and how to work around it. When he died, no one knew how to handle themselves. He was my role model and I had no idea how to cope, that was until Pepper approached me with her idea. I love this job, and I just need to clear up the rumor about me being the infamous Spider-Man. I've seen that the person saying this believes Mr. Stark and I knew each other because of this and that's how we grew close, and, well, I just need to say, it's-" Peter froze as he saw all the wide eyes of the audience and reporters. Cameras were reporting live as he spoke to the world and everything would be reported for weeks to come. "Okay," Peter threw the cards on the floor. "I did have an internship for Mr. Stark. He was my role model, he still is," Peter said.

"What is he doing?" Ned asked anxiously.

Pepper's face dropped but she knew she couldn't stop him. He's stubborn, just as Tony was. And if this is what he wanted, this is what he wanted.

 Peter took a deep breath. "That's completely true. We began to work closely together after the Vulture incident," He cringed at the memory. "And the truth is," Peter paused.

"He's doing what Tony did," You concluded, a smile growing big on your face.

"I am Spider-Man."

The room exploded. May nearly fainted, Ned jumped up and down, and you smiled. Happy quickly urged Peter off the stage and over to you, grabbing the group and taking all of you out to the car. Pepper was the last one to follow, saying that "Mr. Parker will not be taking any more questions," And disappearing into the back to get into the vehicle with the rest. Pepper laughed when everyone got situated and the car began to move. "I knew you were going to do that," She admitted. "You are just like Tony. After seeing everything, and deciding it would be better to let people know, you told them. Even though there is fear behind it, it felt right."

"Exactly," Peter breathed out. And every radio station that Happy flipped to had Peter's last line playing on it, or someone talking about it.

"It's 2008 all over again," Happy laughed.

Pepper put her hand on Peter's knee while Ned was trying to calm down May. "Except this time, things will be done differently," Pepper said. "You may be like Tony, but you are insanely different from him as well."

You kissed Peter's cheek, yet again. "I don't think we'll ever be able to be normal," You shrugged.

"Yeah, but we can still be seventeen. Just with a twist."

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed make sure to check me out on tumblr @that-sokovian-bastard


End file.
